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Apple Watch Blood Glucose Monitoring Likely Still 'Three to Seven Years' Away
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Using optics? Agreed, as of today, I don't see how an optic sensor can detect glucose levels.
NEVER?
Every new tech advanced ever seemed impossible to some people until it happened. It may be awhile, but I bet it'll be figured out eventually.
I'd happily pay over $2000 US for a watch that has a glucose monitor built in. I currently pay nearly $3000 NZ which is nearly $1900 US. They are used as a warning of low and high glucose trends and are never to be trusted as a true reading.
Even more to the point: my aWatch, my old now series 6, has pulse oximetry. That’s still a bit mind blowing to me, I cant wait to have that with glucometry
Real science doesn’t mean slapping an Apple logo and it’s magically possible.
Non invasive blood glucose monitoring have been researched for decades or longer. Plenty of existing medical device companies are already on it. Apple’s entry into it doesn’t equate to abracadabra.
Non invasive blood glucose monitoring have been researched for decades or longer. Plenty of existing medical device companies are already on it. Apple’s entry into it doesn’t equate to abracadabra.
Whilst I agree this will be some time off yet and require something akin to a revolution in sensors.
Apple did put an ECG reader in the watch and the price didn't really go up due to that, so it may not go up for this glucose monitoring either.
Chinese watches will have it next year. Apple is so behind in innovation that is fair to call Apple a “follower” more than an “innovator” nowadays.
Seriously, look a the “advances” in the last generations of devices from Apple. Waaaaaaaaay behind Google, Samsung and Huawei. It will take 3 to 5 years to Apple to catch up with those brands now.
Use for 1 month a top of the line Android device and you will hate it, BUT, you will recognize how advanced they are vs the same old IPhone and IOS of the last 4 years.
Even the latest and greatest dynamic Island is a hot mess (loooooooots of apps, including baking and Apple Arcade apps) get super Poor user experience due to the lower position in the screen of the island, lots of info is broken due to the island, the info is just cut horribly, and the always on display is almost a joke, looks like a demo half baked 5 years ago.
Apple is just “status”, not really the “best without discussion”, as it was 10 years ago.
The main market are snobbish teenagers using iMessage.
Even the dail pad and the keyboard “features” are equal or worse than 10 years ago.
Seriously, look a the “advances” in the last generations of devices from Apple. Waaaaaaaaay behind Google, Samsung and Huawei. It will take 3 to 5 years to Apple to catch up with those brands now.
Use for 1 month a top of the line Android device and you will hate it, BUT, you will recognize how advanced they are vs the same old IPhone and IOS of the last 4 years.
Even the latest and greatest dynamic Island is a hot mess (loooooooots of apps, including baking and Apple Arcade apps) get super Poor user experience due to the lower position in the screen of the island, lots of info is broken due to the island, the info is just cut horribly, and the always on display is almost a joke, looks like a demo half baked 5 years ago.
Apple is just “status”, not really the “best without discussion”, as it was 10 years ago.
The main market are snobbish teenagers using iMessage.
Even the dail pad and the keyboard “features” are equal or worse than 10 years ago.
The real prize is non-cuffed blood pressure measurement in real time. I had friends and classmates working on ultrasonic approaches to BP measurement in the early 1990s but it turned out to be exponentially more difficult than expected. If Apple could crack that problem and patent the technology they would do the world a great favor and make a 2nd mint of money doing so.
Medical devices are different from drugs, but typically if trials are required in the medical world the applicant has to pay a neutral 3rd party such as a university research institute to conduct the trial, then submit those results to the FDA or other regulatory body. While the NIH and CDC conduct a lot of research and may well test new drug substances or new devices they don't conduct trials for the applicant.
You have no idea. Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices used by T1 diabetics cost in the thousands of dollars per year. They are heavily subsidised in Australia now, but less than a year ago using Dexcom G6 cost around A$450 per month.
They’ll have cured diabetes by the time this releases
At least the in home blood pressure cuffs aren’t invasive like sticking your finger with needles two or more times a day. You need to check the results from the home blood pressure machines against readings from your doctor to make sure you’re getting accurate readings. So far my parents and my husband have gotten good results with theirs. They’re very small. If you don’t already have one I’d recommend getting one.
This feels like the nuclear fusion of wearables - always just a few years away.
Hopefully Apple can implement it in an Apple watch in the next couple of years.
Why dead? Since learning about the insulin & how to secrete it from a dog’s pancreas in 1921 countless lives have been saved. Today, diabetics can get their reliable blood glucose reading within 5 seconds with a single light finger prick.
Further, already existing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, like those from Abbott & Dexcom, allow people to use sensors that stick to the skin for 10-14 days and continuously estimate the glucose levels not from the wearer’s blood, but from the fluid between the cells, which is quite amazing in itself & quite accurate.
So it is not a life & death situation, but a question of more convenience. It would indeed be nice to have a glucose sensor in a watch, however the accuracy is very important too, so well worth waiting, IMO.
I do know that this is a "rumour" site but this has been touted as being close to release for the last couple of years on an Apple watch. I for one am disappointed if these rumours of 3 to 7 years till release are true. TBH, it was the Apple Watch's "next big thing" in my opinion. One has to wonder if there are any other upgrades of note to the yearly release in the meantime.
It would have enticed me back to Apple to buy a phone and watch.
It would have enticed me back to Apple to buy a phone and watch.
Modern CGM system already monitor your glucose levels very exact and during sports. If Apple can not achieve the same functionality, it is almost useless for the majority of people. For the others it is just a toy or gimmick. But monitoring is important during sports, measuring your glucose level with blood only takes seconds today.
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This feature never really worked and it is a cumbersome process - not even Apple uses it for advertising. If glucose monitoring will work the same way, scrap it!
it’s good that you bring that up because, at least in my experience, that is an example of an Apple health sensor that is wildly inaccurate. I sometimes see figures as low as 85% that, as I understand it, should medically mean that I am highly likely to be exhibiting noticeable symptoms of hypoxia when in fact I am going about my life feeling absolutely fine. I assume those anomalous readings are because at the time an automatic background reading was taken my wrist wasn’t quite in a bad enough position to cause a failed reading but did cause a totally nonsense reading to be taken.
As another example when I sometimes manually initiate a reading with my wrist held still and in the upright position as recommended by Apple and I get a low reading, say something in the 90-95% range, I can immediately take another reading that more often than not comes back in the 98-100% range.
As has been pointed out to me before when I have mentioned how inaccurate I have found the bloodox sensor to be, Apple does explicitly state that it is not for medical use. Since Apple has done that before with the bloodox sensor I suppose it might be an option it could persue at least with early iterations of a glucose monitor if it does ever release such a feature. I assume that avoids it having to go through the FDA/EMEA/MHRA etc approvals process if it is making no medical claims about the accuracy but in my view that would essentially relegate it to a gimmick/toy which is exactly how an view the current bloodox monitoring on my Apple Watch.
Blood pressure probably would be more anticipated (and useful to more people).